A New Era, (BB/CCS)
by SilverRose1
Summary: A new Card Captor (Crystal, descendant of Sakura) and new Batman (Terry McGiness) cross paths etc. my first non-humor so be gentle. Actually, flame me I don't care.
1. A Day in the Life

Crystal snuggled closer to her boyfriend. She gazed into his stormy gray eyes with the sparkling green ones she had inherited from her late grandmother. "What are you looking at?" he asked her. "The moon." she sighed. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" "Yep. So are you, Crys." She blushed. "Thanks, Logan." He kissed her. Crystal's 11 year old sister, Gwen, and Logan's 11 year old sister, Chelsea, were playing chess on a stone table behind them. "Ew, They sooo need to get a room." said Jade shaking her head. "Totally," agreed Chelsea. Sitting on the table next to them was a small stuffed looking golden animal that looked like a teddy bear with wings. Suddenly, the ground around the peaceful scene began to rumble and quake. "Oh, not here, not now..." sighed Crystal. It was odd she hadn't sensed it coming. She sensed something now. "Look out!" she screamed and pushed Logan off the bench towards Jade and Chelsea. Logan gave a yelp of suprise and toppled, uust as a huge mountian of Earth shot out of the ground where he had been sitting. It was at least 40 feet high and 15 feet thick. The small animal that had been sitting on the chess board jumped up and zipped around the dirt mound with its tiny wings. "Crystal!" he called out. "This is the second to last card! It's also an element so it's VERY powerful. Use your magic." "I KNOW Kero. Should I use the sleep card?" "Yah, unless you want to show people a REALLY cool show." Crystal took of a key shaped necklace and held it in front of her. "Force of Darkness, Force of light, Force of magic, know my plight." A golden rune shined in a broad circle below her. "RELEASE!" she commanded in a routine she had grown used to in the past months. A long black wand about the size and shape of a baton appeared in front of her. There was a green and black bird head on the top of it. She pulled a long, narrow, pink card out of her backpack. "Star card, release and dispel! Sleep!" A blueish fairy like create materialized in front of her. It took off and began sprinkling shiny gold dust on everyone it could find. People began collapsing as the dust fell on them. "Good thing it's night, there aren't that many people around." She replaced the sleep card and pulled out a different card. "Star card!" she yelled, the golden circle once again appearing beneath her. "Release and dispel! Fly!" Two huge feathery wings grew out of her staff. She jumped on it and took to the air. The wind whipped through her hair. "Ahh..." she thought happily. "I will never get tired of this feeling..." Kero popped up in the air beside her, his little wings fluttering furiously. "You have to solve this one yourself. Good luck, Crystal." Kero flew back down to Earth. "It IS a beautiful night," sighed Crystal. "Too bad theres a 6 inch piece of paper poking holes in my town..." Crystal looped around and flew over the park. There were mounds of dirt everywhere, and more were popping up every second. "Alright...every card has a weakness. So, let's see...Windy wouldn't do much, Firey? No dirt smothers fire. Watery? Oh, mud wouldn't help much... So- what has this card not destroyed? Houses, concrete, steel..." She landed on a rooftop and glanced around. "OOOH!" She yelled suddenly. "Trees!" Suddenly, a creature made out of dirt that looked like a huge spiny earthworm with teeth dove out onto the street. "Right..." Crystal stared at the monsterous animal. "Maybe if I stomp on it and throw some seed on it I'll be able to seal it in say...30 years?" She smacked herself in the forehead. "What am I thinking? Duh. STAR CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL! WOOD!!!!" A glowing spirit that looked like a woman materialized from the card and began wrapping thick vines over the dirt monster. "Alright, Earthy, you are soooo sealed. Return, your power confined. EARTHY!!" She slammed her wand down into the air in front of her. The earthworm was sucked up until it was once again a card, then it float slowly into her hand. Kero raced towards her as fast as his wings could take him. "Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes" he whispered under his breath. Crystal whirled around and began dancing, waving the last card high above her head. "YES! THIS IS SOOOO SHWAY!!! I GOT--ALMOST ALL THE CARDS!" She caught sight of Kero and stopped dancing. He seemed to be glowing. "Are you alright, Kero?" she asked. Kero didn't respond. His wings suddenly grew and enveloped him a huge cucoon. There was a golden rune below him. "Uh, Kero? Is that supposed to happen...?" She asked, slowly backing away. "Kero?" The huge wings parted revealing a huge golden animal adorned with jewels. "Whoah, that is so shway! Is that your true form?" "Yes." responded Kero in a deep voice. "You look...kind of noble. Awesome." "The Firey and Earthy cards are ruled by the Sun, where I draw my power from. You captured them, so here I am. Cool, eh?" "Yep." responded Crystal cheerfully. "Now what? Should I wake up Logan? Do I need to write my name on this card? You know what I want? A BIG ice cream sundae. Really big. HUGE! What's wrong, Kero?" Kero was staring away distractedly. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. You must first capture the last card. And then face the Final Judgement." He added under his breath. "Final what? Judgement? That's not good. One more card and I'm done, right? Last card? Done?" "If the Judge has not assumed a material form, we will need to retrieve the book. If he taken a form, he will awaken as soon as the canidate signs the last card." "What?" wailed Crystal. "Kero, are you even listening to me? I don't want to be judged, I'm not a canidate or whatever, after I get the last card, I'm done!" "You must capture the last card. Once you sign the it, the Judgement will begin. Then you can fulfill your destiny." "Oh joy. I'm still going for ice cream. If the last card is that important, I'll find it." Kero reverted back to his small form in a quick flurry of feathers. Crystal's wand turned back into a key. She held out her backpack and motioned to Kero. "C'mon Kero. I'll give you the cherry off my sundae." She walked over to her sleeping companions and shook Logan gently. "Hey are you alright? That earthquake nearly gave you a concussion. Do want to go to a diner of something? I REALLY want a sundae." Logan stood up and rubbed his head. "Su-Sure. I'll get the car. Come on." Crystal grabbed Chelsea and Jade's hands and followed Logan. Just an ordinary day in the life of Crystal Talbot...  
  
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away:  
Two guys carefully lowered themselves into the Gotham museum. They were dressed in clown outfits, a sick tribute to the long dead criminal the Joker. On the opposite side of the museum, two young girls who where also dressed as clowns were vicously yanking wires from a metal box. One of them reached for a cellphone shaped like a clown face and pushes down on its nose. "You guys are all clear," she hissed. "The system is down." Someone else was croutching in the shadows. Unlike the clowns, he was dressed in a jet black bodysuit with a large red bat emblem pictured on his chest. He touched his earpice. "Jokers," he said in a dark voice. "Are you getting this Wayne?" An old man was sitting in front of a computer screen in the basement of his large mansion on the outskirts of town. "Yes. Watch yourself, McGinness." He was a hard old man. His parents had left his world long ago, leaving him with a great fortune and a deep hatred towards criminals like the man who had taken his family from him at such a young age. "Try taking them now, before they get in, McGinness." Bruce suggested. "You got it." Batman raised his arm. A bat shaped razor blade popped out of his wrist, and he quckly hurled it at the rope the Jokers were sliding down. They landed in a heap on the floor, extremly angry and confused. "Hey boys, it's a school night." taunted Batman as he rocketed towards them. One of the Jokers picked up his cracked cell phone. "God damn it, it's the Batman!" he screamed. "Get in here!" The two female Jokers rushed in, but it was only a matter of minutes before police sirens were shrieking away and Batman was soaring silently back into the night. Just an ordinary day in the life of Terry McGiness... 


	2. Welcome to Gotham

The Next Day...  
  
Crystal whirled around. She could hear footsteps, but she couldn't see anyone. "Hello?!" she screamed, but the only reply was the echo of the own words. Someone was running away from her. "Logan?" she called after him. "Logan? Where are you going? What's wrong? No! Come back...!" Logan stopped and turned around. "Crystal? Help me. I-" Suddenly the huge dark figure of a winged man appeared in front of Logan. He floated a few feet of the ground. "The Final Judgement will now begin." Crystal screamed as something white-hot pierced her shoulder...  
"CRYSTAL!!!!!" It was Kero. Crystal woke up gasping. She sat up and Kero settled down on her knee. "I need breakfast!" he wailed. "Alright." yawned Crystal. "What time is it?" "7:20." "WHAT?!" shrieked Crystal. "School starts in 10 minutes!" She threw on some pants and a sweater, and zipped out the door. Kero sighed. "Oh well. Always be prepared, that's my motto..." he muttered to himself as he fluttered away and removed a candy bar from Crystal sock drawer. "Thank god it's the last day before winter break." she thought to herself as she zoomed down the street towards her high school. "I can't take much more of this..."   
"Hey, you look rushed." said Crystal's friend Jade as she sat down to lunch. "I ran to school today." sighed Crystal. "And this makes it different from any other day how...?" laughed Jade. "Hey, are you still going on the gifted field trip tomorrow?" "Yes." laughed Jade. "WORK! What better way to spend your free time?" Crystal giggled. Logan walked over and sat next to Crystal. "I'm going to. It should be either really cool or really miserable." "It won't be miserable if your there with me." said Crystal, kissing him on the cheek. "Hey..." said Jade in an exited whisper. "Do you guys think we'll get to see Batman?" "At the Gotham computer class?" asked Crystal. "I think she means around the city, Crys." "See, I knew that. I've heard of him. He sounds so cool! I want to meet him." "RING!" "8th period. See you guys tommorow morning."  
Crystal sighed happily and sank down on her bed. "Ahh. Free at last." "Crystal!" her mother yelled from downstairs. "Get packing! You leave tommorow at 6!" "Alright! " "You know, you really need to get the last card. It's called the shot card. Everything depends on it." "The shot card? OK...How am I supposed to do that?" demanded Crystal as she shoved her favorite sweater into her suitcase. "Use your magic." replied Kero. "Reach out with your mind and try to find it. It has the same magic aura as the other cards." "I could try I guess..." said Crystal uncertainly. She sat down on her bed and cluthed the key looped around her neck with a tight fist. "Here goes nothing..." She closed her eyes and concentrated. The magic insigna of the cards glowed below her, and she floated a few inches off the bed. She could feel the strong aura of the card from behind something cold and hard--glass...It was close, she could feel it...Gotham. "Gotham?" said Crystal in a bewieldered voice. She open her eyes and sank back to the bed. "Does that sound right to you?" Kero sighed. "You're probably just too fixated on Gotham because of your trip tommorow. Oh well. Keep packing, we'll try again some other time."   
Crystal's dad helped her load the rest of her suitcases anto the travel bus. "Love you, honey." said her parents. "I love you too. See you when I get back." She climbed onto the bus and sat down next to Logan. "I can't believe she's going to be gone for a whole week." sighed Crystal's mother. "Oh, don't worry. She'll have fun. She loves computers. And, I heard that they're going on a tour of Gotham the first day." "Come on." wailed Gwen, dragging her parents away. "It's too cold out! Hey mom, Could Chelsea sleep over tonight?" "I'll think about it honey..."  
Crystal was sitting next to Jade. Logan and where sitting behind them. Crystal whirled around in her seat. "A whole week of freedom!" she said excitedly. "No homework, no chores!" Jade raised an eyebrow. "Just don't trash our room, Crys..." "Who, me?" said Crystal in mock insult. She reached into her pack and pulled out a bag of cookies. "Anybody hungry?" she asked smiling. Jade popped a cookie into her mouth. "Mrs. Shegs, how much longer?" Thier teacher looked up from her book. "Oh, an hour or so. Hey, who wants to watch a movie?"  
Four Star Wars filled hours later...  
"Uhh...my brain feels like mush. DAMN YOU YODA!!" wailed Crystal as she stepped off the bus. "George Lucas, spawn of Satan." sighed Jade, coming up next to her. "Vwahn, vwahn." said Matt from behind the girls. "Air lightsaber!" yelled Logan. He jumped off the bus and began to fence with him. They were suddenly joined by four other boys, each brandishing an imaginary lightsaber. "Ah, gifted, home of the nerds." laughed Crystal. "It's always the quiet ones." replied Jade, shaking her head. "Let's go get our luggage." The two girls walked towards the luggage compartment on the outside of the bus. Crystal's backpack gave a slight lurch. She immediatly dove behind the bus and looked into her pack. "Kero!" she whispered in alarm. "I almost forgot about you! Are you okay in there?" "Yeah, I'm fine. Hi, Jade." Jade was leaning over Crystal's shoulder. "Hi, Kero." she replied, smiling. "I see you gorged yourself." said Crystal. He had eaten half of her supply of junk food. "Ah, I just had a little snack..." said Kero innocently. "Kero, two bags of doritos and a 2/3 a bag of Oreos in not a little snack." reprimanded Jade as she giggled. "That's like twice your body wieght!" said Crystal. "Yeah, well in my true form-," began Kero. "Oh god, no." interupted Crystal. "I don't have a job! I can't buy food for a 300 pound lion who considers eating twice his body wieght a 'little snack'." "Let's go find our hotel room." suggested Jade. It's on the 8th floor. Ms. Shegs gave me the key on the bus." "Alright!" said Crystal. "Easy takeoff. Maybe we will get to see Batman!" They both grabbed their bags and headed up to the hotel. As quietly as he could manage, Kero began finishing the bag of Oreos.  
Logan, Matt, and 5 other guys I'm too lazy to name were dragging their bags up the stairs. "Hi." said Crystal, leaning her head into the staircase. She had a schedule in her hands. "Lunch is at noon in the hotel resteraunt. We get a tour of the museum at one." "Ok." Logan panted. He stopped on the floor below her. "I'll meet you downstairs in 15 minutes." "Cool."   
Jade and Crystal were rooming together. "This is going to be so awesome." said Jade as she surveyed Gotham City for the window of room 813. "I still want to meet Batman." said Crystal as she gazed hopefully out the window. "C'mon out Kero." Kero popped out of Crystal's bag and buzzed around the room. "Crystal..." he said in an uncertain voice. "I feel like were closer to the last card..." "Really?" Crystal closed her eyes. "Well, maybe..." Jade glanced at her watch. "Hey, it's time to go down to lunch." "Whoa, your're right. Kero, do you want to come to the musuem? We could look for the card..." Kero stared at the video game on the top of the TV intently. "No...That's ok." He said slowly. Kero jumped on to Crystal's bed and she and Jade hurried down the stairs.   
"Lunch was pretty good." Said Logan, as they walked through the huge marble halls of Gotham Museum. "Yeah." said Crystal. "Thank god it's not cafeteria food, that would suck." "Last is a special exibit, only up for a limited time." Their musuem tour guide smiled widely. Right this way, please." They shuffled through another room. In the corner was a large glass case, with a number of artifacts tacked up inside it. Crystal felt it before she saw it. She stopped dead in her tracks. It was there, inside the case. Her heart gave a leap. The last card. She turned and walked out of the crowd and over to the unobtrusive exibit. The card was posted in the upper right hand corner of the case. Logan followed behind her. She was staring intently at the card. Logan raised an eyebrow. "Er...Crys?" " Crystal snapped back to reality. "Oh-" she stammered. "This...ah...card." There were many other small trinkets in the case. There was a small blue square next to the card, reading "11A". Logan bent down and read the text on the bottom of the case. "11A: This artifact is believed to have been a tool for ancient fortune tellers. OK..." A museum guard with her lips tightly pursed walked up to them. "I believe your tour is departing." she said curtly. "Thanks..." said Logan. Crystal grabbed his hand and they walked towards their tour group. When she noticed Logan was absorbed in the last exibit, she pulled out her musuem map and scrawled a huge red "X" over the location of the card.  
"Jade!" Crystal grabbed Jades' arm as she boarded the bus. Jade invited her to sit next to her. "What?" asked Jade. Crystal dropped her voice to an excited whisper. "I found it!" "Found what?" "The last card. I'm going to come back and get it tonight." She pulled out her museum map and pointed to the card's location. Jade's eyes widened. "Good luck." "Thanks." Crystal pulled open the glass door that lead out to the balcony of their hotel room. Crystal was wearing her usual cardcaptoring apparel-black tank top, black pants, black combat boots, and (because it was winter) a black sweater. "Off I go." she said. "FLY!!!" Crystal's staff sproated huge, white, feathery wings and hovered in front of her. Crystal and Kero waved as they soared away. Jade closed the screen on the balcony and grabbed an X-Men comic off the pile on her Crystal's bed.   
"Do you really need to go out at this hour?" Mary McGiness yelled angrily at her 17 year old son. "I can't help it Mom." Terry argued. "Mr. Wayne wants me to run some errends." "At 11:30 at night?" she demanded. "I don't know!" Terry yelled. "He's an old man." "Fine." said Mrs. McGiness. "But you ahd better be back before one. You have that computer class tomorrow." "Thanks mom." Terry kissed her and headed out the door. Computer class. Terry sighed. Max and his mother had collabereated to force him to take it. At least Dana would be there...  
"I thought you said it was going to be a quiet night, boss." Terry said as he walked down the broad stone steps that lead to the main floor of the batcave. An old man was sitting in front of a huge, glowing, computer screen. There was a sleeping black dog next to him. "I did. As far as the web goes, NO ONE in the known underworld was planning anything tonight." Terry pulled the bat suit out of his backpak and pulled off his shirt...*author drools and slaps herself* He stood next to Mr. Wayne. "What's going down? If it was spontenous it's probably Jokers." "Can't be." Wayne pulled up an image from the security system of the Gotham musuem. "There's only one." Terry examined the image before him. "She's dressed all in black. I guess she's not a Joker. But,...what's she holding? That looks like a bird head. And is she talking to a stuffed animal?" "She must be some kind of whacko." sighed Bruce. "She looks young. Maybe she's working for someone." "Any idea what she took?" Bruce frowned. "One thing. It's not even that valuable, as far as I can tell." The girl walked out of the camera's field of vision. Wayne pulled up a screen shot and zoomed into the object in the girl's hand. "A card?" asked Terry in disbelief. "She IS a nutcase. I'm going. He hopped into the batmobile and sped off into the night. Wayne stroked Ace the Bathound's head. "The people in this town just keep getting wierder and wierder..."  
Crystal couldn't help feeling giddy as she left the museum. "FLY!" she yelled, and headed home, perched a top her wand. She had done it! She had captured all the cards! Kero patted her on the shoulder with his tiny paw. "Good job, kid." He said. "Thanks." replied Crystal. She had used the illusion card to get past the musuem guards and the through to bypass security and get to the card. "Anything I should know about this card?" inquired Crystal. "It's not going to explode or anything, is it?" "Well," Kero began. "When you speak it's name aloud while holding it, it will assume a material form and relentlessly pursue the first thing it sees until it destroys it." Crystal grimaced. "Yikes. How do I disarm it?" "Put it in the book." explained Kero. "Sounds simple enough." said Crystal.   
Terry used the binoculars in his mask to zoom in on the strange girl who had robbed the museum. He had decided to follow her on foot, and was croutching on a rooftop as she passed by. She was 15 stories up, and appeared to be flying on the same black, bird-headed stick she was carrying earlier. The only difference was that the wings on the bird's head were now about ten times thier original size and were flapping rythmically. The stuffed animal she had brought with her was now perched on her shoulder. Terry could barely her hear them, even with the suit's enhancments. He heard her voice. Then he heard another voice. The stuffed animal was alive? He tapped the microphone in his mask. Maybe he was getting interference from the people in the building below him. He readjusted his mike and listened. No, we was not getting interference. The stuffed toy was talking. Terry deduced that it was electronic. "This girl must be more disturbed than we thought." said Terry to Bruce over his comlink. "Alright." said Bruce. "Take her down. But be careful. You don't know what she's capable of yet." "OK." replied Terry. She LOOKED harmless. He launched a wieghted rope at Crystal. It wrapped around her, binding her arms to her sides. "HEY! What the hell? Who...?" Crystal landed on a roof and got to her feet. "Hello? Anybody?" She whirled around. Kero fluttered to her side and tugged at the ropes. "RRR!" he strained. "I can't." Batman jumped onto the rooftop, a few yards away fron Crystal and Kero. "Alright you wierdo." he said uncertainly. "What's up with the musuem robbing?" "I'll you in a sec." replied Crystal. Kero's wings grew into a cucoon, and when they opened, he had transformed into his true form. He sliced through Crystal's ropes with a swipe of his huge paw. Crystal shook her rope off and looked at Batman. Her eyes widend. "OH MY GOD!" she squeeled. "YOU'RE BATMAN!!!!" "Umm...yeah." said Terry distractedly. He was staring open mouthed at the huge lion-like beast before him. "What IS that?" He asked finally. "This? Oh this is Kero." said Crystal cheerfully. "Kero?" said Terry uncertainly. "It's ALIVE?" "DUH." Crystal rolled her eyes. "McGiness..." warned Bruce over his comlink. "She DID rob the museum." "Oh..." said Terry. "Right." He lifted another Batarang and cocked his arm. "Alright." he said evenly. "You robbed a musuem. You're going to Juvey." Kero growled and hunched down. Flames were gathering in his mouth. He suddenly jumped up and shot a stream of fire at Batman, which consumed the baterang he was holding and scorched his hand. "Dammit!" Terry grabbed his hand. "Kero! That was violent!" cried Crystal. "Are you OK?" she asked Batman worridly. "Now I'm never going to get his autograph!" she complained. "There are some animal tranquilizers in your belt." Bruce informed Terry calmly. Terry pulled out three doses and fired them at Kero, who staggered and collapsed, immediatly reverting to his borrowed form. Crystal picked up Kero's snoring form and deposited him in her breast pocket. Crystal folded her arms. "I'm starting to get the impression that you're a jackass." She lifted her staff and climbed onto the ledge. "I'm leaving." "No you're not." said Terry darkly. "Oh?" said Crystal icily. "I'd like to see YOU stop me." Terry decided it was time to act. He pulled Crystal off the edge and tackled her, pinning her to the rooftop. He reached into her pocket and pulled out the Shot Card. "Hmm." He looked at the card. "You robbed a museum for this? What are you going to do with it?" Crystal scowled, still pinned. "Fulfill my destiny, by capturing all the Star- er- well, Sakura cards." "Right..." said Terry. "You know, you look awfully young to be a nutcase." Crystal smiled darkly. "Oh, really? Well I'm not insanse but I can do THIS." A golden rune spread out below them She slammed her staff onto a small, flat, glowing object beside her. "WINDY!" she screamed. A huge gust of wind blew Terry of of her and slammed him against the door that leads up to the roof. Back in the Batcave, Bruce's eyes widended. "Dear god...she's a witch." He said breatlessly. "WHAT?" exclaimed Terry. "A real honest to god WITCH?" "I gather." replied Bruce. "Witches are BAD news, McGiness. Be careful." The wind that was pinning Terry to the door died down. He slumped to the ground and struggled his feet. "Do you still want to try me?" she raised her staff. "Oh, I don't think you'll leave without you're stupid..." Terry read the little banner on the card he was holding. "...shot card." "NO! You dumbass!" yelled Crystal. "What?" asked Terry in alarm. The card began to glow and jerked out of Terry's hand. It exploded into light. When the glow subsided, it formed into a shining sphere. "What...is...that?" said Terry backing away slowly. Crystal looked sadly at the sphere. "THAT is the last card. It would have been an easy capture, but NOOOOO! YOU had to came along and attack me and drug up my seal creature and steal my card and set it free and you are highly overated and you are a complete dumbass!" Crystal drew a deep breath. "Oh yeah. The glowing orb, also known as the shot card will relentlessly pursue the first thing it sees until it has destroyed it." The orb suddenly launched itself at Terry. Terry threw himself out of the orb's path. It narrowly missed him. "I suppose you want help now?" said Crystal, smiling. "No, I think I can handle it." Terry croutched and launched two baterangs at the orb. They disintegrated immediatly and Terry had to dodge some more. The orb began firing beams of light at him, leaving small smoking craters everywhere. Crystal watched as Terry ran helplessly back and forth across the roof. "Well," she said huffily, "Since I need that card and you don't ANY magical powers I can sense, I will help you." Terry somersaulted into a corner. He was trapped. The glowing orb rotated and launched itself at Terry for the final blow. "McGiness!" yelled Bruce in alarm. "SHIELD!" screamed Crystal. An invisible wall suddenly appeared around Terry and deflected the orb's attack. The orb continued to pummel him, but the shield held. Terry slumped against the stout brick wall and gasped for breath. "Hmm..." said Crystal. "Mirror! Release and dispel!" Ten 3-D mirror images of Batman began running all over the roof. The orb shot away from Terry. It began vibrating furiously. "Hah!" yelled Crystal triumphantly. "It's confused. She raised her staff. "SHOT CARD! Return, your power confined. SHOT!" Terry stood up. Crystal was holding the Shot card in her hand and smiling broadly. "GO ME!!!" she squeeled, excitedly. Terry pulled out another baterang. "You are going to the Police chief!" said Terry furiously. "Maybe she will know what to do with you." "ARE- YOU- INSANE?!" demanded Crystal hysterically. "I can kick you're ass! I- HAVE- FREAKING- MAGIC- POWERS! You do not." "We'll see." Terry tackled her again. "Grr..." Crystal kicked him and scrambled away. "If it's a fight you want..." she shot forward and punched Terry. He looked unharmed. "I'm stronger than I look." he said smugly. "Don't get cocky..." warned Bruce. "Relax." said Terry. "She wants to fight hand to hand. How bad could it be?" "Famous last words." muttered Bruce. Crystal swung her staff down in front of her. "FIGHT! POWER! Release and dispel!" Crystal glowed briefly with a silvery white aura and then it faded. She smiled. "Let's go." They fought. Terry was skilled. Extremly skilled. But Crystal wasn't relying on skill. She was relying on the fight card to kick ass and the power to give her more superhuman strength than he had. Crystal finally pinned Terry to a wall. "Give up?" she panted. "You wish." he panted back. Terry pushed her away and prepared to strike. Crystal looked at her watch. "It's been two hours. This is pointless. I'm leaving." "You're not going anywhere." growled Terry. "That's what you think." said Crystal disgustedly. "Too bad Batman. You're out of time, and you can't do anything about it. TIME! Freeze the moment!" A pinkinsh light spread from where her staff touched the Time card, and froze everything it touched. Crystal was the only thing unaffected. She walked slowly over to Terry, her footsteps echoing strangely in the vast frozen world. She grabbed Batman's mask and tore it off, revealing a dark haired, blue eyed 17 year old guy, who looked slightly bewildered. "Wow. He's really HOT!" she pulled a camera out of her bag. "One for my personal collection," she said as she snapped the shot. She replaced the mask to Batman's head and the camera to her bag. She pulled out the flower card. "A little parting gift...FLOWER!" A female spirit with curly hair littered the ground with deep red roses. Crystal picked one up and placed it neatly in Batman's outstretched hand. "FLY! Bye bye now, maybe we'll meet again. Soon." She took off on her now winged staff. She was on the balcony of her hotel room by the time time resumed it's normal flow. She quietly opened the sliding glass door and changed into her pajamas. Jade had fallen asleep next to a pile of comic books. Crystal placed the sleeping Kero on the pillow next to her and climbed into bed. What a night. At least she had captured all the cards. Kero had warned her not to sign the last card right away, or at least not untill they get home. She had learned by now to heed his advice. She set her alarm for 8:00am, rolled over, and fell fast asleep.   
Terry looked at the rose in his hand in disbelief. He scooped up some of the roses on the ground around him and paused to scan the skies. The witch was nowhere to be seen. He looked at the dozen red roses he was now holding. Maybe he could give them to Dana...  
Bruce Wayne stood up from him computer and walked away, shaking his head. "Witches..." he muttered.   
In the shadows of the alleyway far below Crystal and Batman, a strange woman in a dark cloak was watching, her narrowed eyes glowing blood red. "Such power..." she hissed, as she watched Crystal battling with Batman. "But I can easily become stronger, much stronger...I know the way." She clutched the staff next to her. It was long and topped with a curved scythe. "I will let no one stop me. I will become a goddess!" Her staff glowed dark purple, and she disappeared.   
A few miles away, Blaze was walking alone on a darkened street, muttering to herself. "Call me and cancel our date, will he?" she said in an irritated voice. "Hi, I'm Nelson, and I have the IQ of a zit." she said, imitating her boyfriend's voice. She pulled her thick fur coat tighter across her slim body. "I standup my girlfriend and call her after an hour because I want to watch a match on the web. Dirtbag." Suddenly an cloaked figure stepped out in front of her. She was holding a scythe, and stood unmoving. "Excuse ME." said Blaze, putting her hands on her hips. "Do you have a problem?" "Yes." she said, smiling under her hood. "Perhaps your lifeforce can solve it for me." "My what?" asked Blaze. Suddenly, the cloaked women shot forward and grabbed Blaze's throat, stiffling her scream. The cloaked women slammed Blaze against the brick wall next to them. Blaze squirmed madly, trying to get free of the women's grasp. Then, Blaze's body began to glow. The light flowed from her into the cloaked women, then it her staff, which began glowing brighter. As Blaze's shine died out, the light coming from the staff grew brighter. Finally, Blaze stopped glowing. The women's staff gave a final shine and returned to normal. Blaze's body hung limply in the woman's grasp. As the women let go, Blaze slid down the wall and slumped forward unmoving. The woman took a step back. With a swiish of her long, black, cloak, she disappeared, her laughter still ringing in the cold night air. 


	3. Secret Identity

Next Morning...  
  
"BUZZBUZZBUZZ' Crystal rolled over and groaned. "Oh, it's to early..." she said in a tired voice. There was a small golden blur zooming around the room, bouncing off the walls. "MorningCrystalsorry aboutlastnightsomeguardianbeastIamtheShotCardcouldhavebeenstolenwellat  
leastIhelpedAlittlebitwhathappened?" Crystal stared at him. He was still zooming around. "Jade...?" asked Crystal uncertainly. "He's alright." said Jade from the bathroom. She walked out in a Christmas sweater, drying her hair with a towel. "He looked really tired, so I gave him some espresso." said Jade innocently. "A little?" asked Crystal in disbelief. Crystal grabbed her clothes and walked into the bathroom. Crystal came out, brushing her hair. "How did it go last night?" inquired Jade excitedly. "Sorry I fell asleep. Did you get the card?" "Yep." said Crystal. "But someone released it and I had to recapture it." "Who?" asked Jade. Crystal smiled. "Batman." Jade's eye's widened. "Really?" "Yah." said Crystal. She placed a few CDs in her pack and pulled out a snapshot. "We fought the card, then each other. I actually saved his ass. Here, I got a picture of him when I stopped time and pulled off his mask." "Wow." said Jade examining the picture. "He's hot." Crystal smiled and put the picture back in her bag. "Totally. I'm not going to blow his secret. It's not like I know who he is anyway."   
Before they left the room, Crystal and Jade took one last look at Kero. He was still bouncing around the room. They opened the door and walked into the hallway, then stared some more. Jade leaned in the room. "Uh...the class ends at one." She said. "We'll pick you up before we go sightseeing." Kero didn't respond. "Right..." said Crystal. As they slammed the door Kero replied. "Javajavajavajavajavajavajavajavajavajava!!!" he cackled, bouncing off the tv and hitting a lampshade.  
Crystal flipped the power switch on her computer. "Schway..." she said longingly as the computer booted up and she opened a game. "I wish we had this stuff at our school." said Logan. He and Jade were sitting on either side of Crystal. "I know." said Jade. "These things are awesome!" "State of the art." said the girl next to Logan. She had short pink hair and dark skin, and she was wearing a yellow sweater. "Hi." said the girl cheerfully. "I'm Max." "Crystal." said Crystal. "This is my boyfriend Logan." "Hey." said Logan. "I'm Jade." said Jade, leaning forward so she could see Max. Max guestured to a pretty dark haired girl next to her. "This is Dana." Dana was holding hands with the boy next to her. "And this is her boyfriend, Terry." Terry and Crystal leaned forward. Their eyes met.   
"YOU!" screamed Crystal.   
"YOU!" screamed Terry.   
They both jumped up out of their seats. "Uhh...you two know each other?" asked Dana, raising an eyebrow. "We were...uh...," stammered Crystal. "Penpals..." said Terry. "Yes! In uh...4th grade!" said Crystal. "Jade, how long 'till class starts?" "15 minutes," said Jade, glancing at her watch. Crystal grabbed Terry's arm. "We need to talk. Loads of catching up to do. Be right back." Crystal dragged Terry out of the computer room and into the hall, their collective friends staring blankly at them.   
Crystal pulled Terry into a corner. Neither of them were quite sure what they could say that wouldn't give away to much away. "Listen," said Crystal quietly. "I know your uh...you know...secret." "Oh?" Terry laughed nervously. "You mean that I work for Bruce Wayne? That I was in Juvie for 3 months? Um...Heh heh...?" "No." Crystal pulled her picture of unmasked Batman out of her bag. Terry looked at the picture. The color drained from his face. He finally managed to choke out a reply. "Wh-When did you...?" "When I froze time. Did you like the roses?" "I gave them to Dana." said Terry weakly. He regained his composure. "Listen, I'm not afraid of blackmail." He said cautiously. "I'm not interested." she replied, shaking her head. "I won't tell, I swear." Crystal pushed the picture on him. "Here. Just take it. It's a polariod, so I have no copies. The only other person who knows is Jade, but she's good at keeping secrets, if you know what I mean." Crystal lifted her key necklace and showed it to him. "Thanks." said Terry. He ripped open the picture and destroyed it. "Max knows about me to, so I guess were in the same boat." They both stared at each other for a minute or so, not really sure if they could trust each other. "Well, I'm going back to class." said Terry "Yeah, same here." said Crystal.   
Class was over before they knew it. Crystal, Jade, Logan, and Matt headed away from class in a group. "Who was that guy?" asked Logan, looking slightly worried. "Oh, him..." said Crystal. "We were penpals in 4th grade. We were going to meet, but we lost touch. I even lost the picture I had of him as a kid." "Oh..." said Logan. Jade leaned close to Crystal. "He looked like..." she whispered. "He was." whispered Crystal. Jade's eyes widedend. She straighted up. "Wierd..." "Matt pulled a map out of his pocket. "We can ride the subway across town." He said, tracing the route with his finger." "Sounds good to me." said Logan.  
Terry was walking with Dana to her car. She wrapped her arms around his torso and stared at him meaningfully. "Terry..." she said, innocently. "Who was that girl you ran of with?" "Her?" said Terry. "Well, we were penpals in fourth grade. We lost touch." He saw the look on Dana's face and added: "She was really really wierd. Total dreg." Dana climbed into the driver's seat of her hover car. "Do you want me to drop you off at Mr. Wayne's?" she asked. "Sure." replied Terry. "Thanks."  
Terry strode through the door of the batcave. "Find anything on the teen witch?" He asked Bruce. "Not exactly." said Bruce. "Come and look at this." "Well, I did." said Terry as her approached the computer. "Her name is Crystal. She's in my computer class. She took a picture of me, unmasked." Bruce looked alarmed. "Don't worry." Terry continued. "We talked today. She gave it to me, and I shredded it. Said she wasn't interested in blackmail. Plus, she almost kicked my ass." He added, sounding slightly depressed. "So...what have you got?" Bruce put on the news. A glowing, blue, outline of a face was reading off stories. "In Gotham City today, there has been a rash of unexplained attacks on young girls. The marks on their necks indicate strangulation, but they all seem to be in perfect health, despite their comotose state. Gotham police urge anyone with information on these attacks to contact the police department. In sports news..." Bruce turned it off. "Here's a picture of on of the victims." He said. "That's Blaze." said Terry. "Ice Queen, ditz. Going out with Nelson, the jock." "She was the eleventh one." said Bruce. "With our little sorceress friend running around, I looked into magical instences of life sucking." He pulled up another window. There was a picture of a large staff, topped with a metal scythe, and a page of text surrounding it. Terry read it aloud. "Known as the Blade of Death, it is a deadly and immensley powerful weapon. Once it has been charged, it can cut through dimensional barriers. How do you charge it?" inquired Terry. "Read on." said Bruce grimly. "The scythe will charge itself and it's bearer with the life essence of young women. Once it's energy has reached it's peak, the bearer, who must be a powerful sorcerer, can cut into the unknown dimension from which the scythe was formed, giving it's wielder unlimited godlike power." Terry stared at the screen. "Crystal had a staff, but it had a bird head on it. She might have looked more menacing if she was carrying a blade of death." "Find her." said Bruce. He pulled a printout from his computer. "Crystal Talbot and Jade Smith, room 813. I want to talk to her in person." "If you say so boss." replied Terry uncertainly. 


End file.
